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A    CHILD'S    DREAM 


OF    A    STAR. 


A  CHILD'S   DREAM 


OF 


A    STAR. 


By  CHARLES    DICKENS. 


WITH  ILLUSTRATIONS  BY  HAMMATT  BILLINGS. 


BOSTON: 

FIELDS,    OSGOOD,    &    CO. 

1871. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1870, 

BY   FIELDS,    OSGOOD,    &    CO., 

in  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington. 


University  Press:  Welch,  Bigelow,  &  Co., 
Cambridge. 


LIST    OF    ILLUSTRATIONS. 

Engraved  by  W.  J.  Linton. 

Page 

I.  These  Two  used  to  wonder       .        .       . .       5 

II.  One  clear  shining  Star         ...  6 

III.  The  Sister  drooped 7 

IV.  A  LITTLE  Grave 8 

V.  A  GREAT  World  of  Light  ,         ,        .        .9 

VI.  "Is  MY  Brother  come?"         .        •        .         10 

VII.  The  Company  of  Angels    .        .        .        .11 

VIII.  "Thy  Mother  is  no  more"  .        .        .         12 

IX.  A  Man,  whose  Hair  was  turning  Gray  .     13 

X.  "I  see  the  Star!".        ....         14 

XI.  It  shines  upon  his  Grave  .        •        .        •     15 


A   CHILD'S 
DREAM    OF    A    STAR. 


HERE  was  once  a  child, 
and  he  strolled  about  a 
good  deal,  and  thought  of 
a  number  of  things.  He 
had  a  sister,  who  was  a 
child  too,  and  his  con- 
stant companion.  These 
two  used  to  wonder  all  day  long.  They 
wondered  at  the  beauty  of  the  flowers ; 
they  wondered  at  the  height  and  blueness 
of  the  sky  ;  they  wondered  at  the  depth 
of  the    bright   water ;     they    wondered    at 

5 


A    CHILD  S    DREAM    OF    A    STAR. 

the  goodness  and  the  power  of  God,  who 
made  the  lovely  world. 

They  used  to  say  to  one  another,  some- 
times. Supposing  all  the  children  upon 
earth  were  to  die,  would  the  flowers  and 
the  water  and  the  sky  be  sorry  ?  They 
believed  they  would  be  sorry.  For,  said 
they,  the  buds  are  the  children  of  the 
flowers,  and  the  little  playful  streams  that 
gambol  down  the  hillsides  are  the  chil- 
dren of  the  water ;  and  the  smallest  bright 
specks  playing  at  hide-and-seek  in  the  sky 
all  night  must  surely  be  the  children  of 
the  stars ;  and  they  would  all  be  grieved 
to  see  their  playmates,  the  children  of 
men,   no   more. 

There  was  one  clear  shining  star  that 
used  to   come   out   in   the   sky   before   the 


A    CHILD  S    DREAM    OF    A    STAR. 

rest,  near  the  church-spire,  above  the 
graves.  It  was  larger  and  more  beauti- 
ful, they  thought,  than  all  the  others,  and 
every  night  they  watched  for  it,  standing 
hand  in  hand  at  a  window.  Whoever 
saw  it  first  cried  out,  "  I  see  the  star  !  " 
And  often  they  cried  out  both  together, 
knowing  so  well  when  it  would  rise  and 
where.  So  they  grew  to  be  such  friends 
with  it,  that,  before  lying  down  in  their 
beds,  they  always  looked  out  once  again, 
to  bid  it  good  night ;  and  when  they 
were  turning  round  to  sleep,  they  used  to 
say,  "  God  bless  the  star  !  " 

But  while  she  was  still  very  young,  O, 
very,  very  young,  the  sister  drooped,  and 
came  to  be  so  weak  that  she  could  no 
longer  stand  in  the  window  at  night ;  and 


A    CHILD  S    DREAM    OF    A    STAR. 

then  the  child  looked  sadly  out  by  him- 
self, and  when  he  saw  the  star,  turned 
round  and  said  to  the  patient  pale  face  on 
the  bed,  "  I  see  the  star  !  "  And  then  a 
smile  would  come  upon  the  face,  and  a 
little  weak  voice  used  to  say,  ''  God  bless 
my  brother  and  the  star  !  " 

And  so  the  time  came,  all  too  soon  ! 
when  the  child  looked  out  alone,  and 
when  there  was  no  face  on  the  bed ;  and 
when  there  was  a  little  grave  among  the 
graves,  not  there  before ;  and  when  the 
star  made  long  rays  down  towards  him, 
as  he  saw  it  through  his  tears. 

Now,  these  rays  were  so  bright,  and 
they  seemed  to  make  such  a  shining  way 
from  earth  to  heaven,  that  when  the  child 
went  to  his  solitary  bed,  he  dreamed  about 


A    CHILD'S    DREAM    OF    A    STAR. 

the  Star  ;  and  dreamed  that,  lying  where 
he  was,  he  saw  a  train  of  people  taken 
up  that  sparkling  road  by  angels.  And 
the  star,  opening,  showed  him  a  great 
world  of  light,  where  many  more  such 
angels  waited  to  receive  them. 

All  these  angels,  who  were  waiting, 
turned  their  beaming  eyes  upon  the  peo- 
ple who  were  carried  up  into  the  star ; 
and  some  came  out  from  the  long  rows 
in  which  they  stood,  and  fell  upon  the 
people's  necks,  and  kissed  them  tenderly, 
and  went  away  with  them  down  avenues 
of  light,  and  were  so  happy  in  their 
company,  that,  lying  in  his  bed,  he  wept 
for  joy. 

But  there  were  many  angels  who  did 
not  go  with  them,  and  among   them  one 

9 


A    CHILD  S    DREAM    OF    A    STAR, 

he  knew.  The  patient  face  that  once 
had  lain  upon  the  bed  was  glorified  and 
radiant,  but  his  heart  found  out  his  sister 
among  all  the  host. 

His  sister's  angel  lingered  near  the  en- 
trance of  the  star,  and  said  to  the  leader 
among  those  who  had  brought  the  peo- 
ple thither,  "  Is  my  brother  come  ? '" 

And  he  said,  "  No." 

She  was  turning  hopefully  away,  when 
the  child  stretched  out  his  arms,  and  cried, 
*'  O  sister,  I  am  here  !  Take  me  !  "  And 
then  she  turned  her  beaming  eyes  upon 
him,  and  it  was  night ;  and  the  star  was 
shining  into  the  room,  making  long  rays 
down  towards  him  as  he  saw  it  through 
his  tears. 

From  that  hour  forth,  the  child  looked 


A    CHILD  S    DREAM    OF    A    STAR. 

out  upon  the  star  as  on  the  home  he  was 
to  go  to,  when  his  time  should  come ; 
and  he  thought  that  he  did  not  be- 
long to  the  earth  alone,  but  to  the  star 
too,  because  of  his  sister's  angel  gone  be- 
fore. 

There  was  a  baby  born  to  be  a  brother 
to  the  child  ;  and  while  he  was  so  little 
that  he  never  yet  had  spoken  word,  he 
stretched  his  tiny  form  out  on  his  bed, 
and  died. 

Again  the  child  dreamed  of  the  opened 
star,  and  of  the  company  of  angels,  and 
the  train  of  people,  and  the  rows  of  an- 
gels with  their  beaming  eyes  all  turned 
upon  those  people's  faces. 

Said  his  sister's  angel  to  the  leader,  "  Is 
my  brother  come  ?  " 


A    CHILD  S    DREAM    OF    A    STAR. 

And  he  said,  "  Not  that  one,  but  an- 
other/' 

As  the  child  beheld  his  brother's  angel 
in  her  arms,  he  cried,  "  O  sister,  I  am 
here  !  Take  me  ! ''  Ahd  she  turned  and 
smiled  upon  him,  and  the  star  was  shin- 
ing. 

He  grew  to  be  a  young  man,  and 
was  busy  at  his  books  when  an  old  ser- 
vant came  to  him  and  said,  "Thy  moth- 
er is  no  more.  I  bring  her  blessing  on 
her  darling  son  !  " 

Again  at  night  he  saw  the  star,  and 
all  that  former  company.  Said  his  sis- 
ter's angel  to  the  leader,  "  Is  my  brother 
come  ? '' 

And  he  said,  "  Thy  mother  !  " 

A  mighty  cry  of  joy  went  forth  through 


A    CHILD  S    DREAM    OF    A    STAR. 

all  the  star,  l^ecause  the  mother  was  re- 
united to  her  two  children.  And  he 
stretched  out  his  arms  and  cried,  "  O 
mother,  sister,  and  brother,  I  am  here ! 
Take  me  !  " 

And  they  answered  him,  "  Not  yet." 
And  the  star  was  shining. 

He  grew  to  be  a  man,  whose  hair  was 
turning  gray  ;  and  he  was  sitting  in  his 
chair  by  the  fireside,  heavy  with  grief, 
and  with  his  face  bedewed  with  tears, 
when  the  star  opened  once  again. 

Said  his  sister's  angel  to  the  leader, 
"  Is  my  brother   come  ?  " 

And  he  said,  "  Nay,  but  his  maiden 
daughter." 

And  the  man  who  had  been  the  child 
saw   his    daughter,    newly    lost    to    him,  a 

13 


A    CHILD  S    DREAM    OF    A    STAR. 

celestial  creature  among  those  three,  and 
he  said,  *^  My  daughter's  head  is  on  my 
sister's  bosom,  and  her  arm  is  round  my 
mother's  neck,  and  at  her  feet  there  is 
the  baby  of  old  time,  and  I  can  bear  the 
parting  from  her,  God  be  praised  !  " 

And  the  star  was  shining. 

Thus  the  child  came  to  be  an  old  man, 
and  his  once  smooth  face  was  wrinkled, 
and  his  steps  were  slow  and  feeble,  and 
his  back  was  bent.  And  one  night  as  he 
lay  upon  his  bed,  his  children  standing 
round,  he  cried,  as  he  had  cried  so  long 
ago,   ''  I  see  the  star  !  " 

They  whispered  one  another,  "  He  is 
dying." 

And  he  said,  '*  I  am.  My  age  is  fall- 
ing from  me  like  a  garment,  and   I  move 


towards  the  sta  child.      And  (>  m 

Father,   now  I  thank   thee   that 
ecetve   th 

And  th< 
upon  his 


A    CHILD  S    DREAM    OF    A    STAR. 

towards  the  star  as  a  child.  And  O  my 
Father,  now  I  thank  thee  that  it  has  so 
often  opened  to  receive  those  dear  ones 
who  await  me  !  " 

And  the  star  was  shining ;  and  it  shines 
upon  his  grave. 

15 


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